Google has hired a bunch of engineers from Amazon's Lab126 for a new wearable tech initiative called 'Project Aura'

Google is working on a new wearable technology effort known as
Project Aura and is hiring consumer electronics experts from
Amazon's secretive Lab126 to jump-start the new group.

Project Aura appears to have gotten started in June and is
focused on reviving Google's troubled Glass computer eyeglasses,
as well as accelerating Google's efforts to develop related
wearable technology.

Project Aura will remain within Google rather than being a
standalone company under the new Alphabet holding company or
being folded into the Nest smart appliances business, a source
familiar with the matter told Business Insider.

Nest CEO Tony Fadell will continue to have high-level
oversight of the project, though it's unclear what will happen
after Nest becomes a separate Alphabet company, the source said.
Ivy Ross, a fashion industry veteran that Google hired to lead
the Glass team in 2014, is heading up the Aura group.

Google has hired at least three employees from Lab126, Amazon's
hardware division, to work in the new group and Aura has a
dedicated recruiter tasked with bringing in more talent.

Several LinkedIn profiles and job listings viewed by Business
Insider describe Project Aura as "Google Glass and Beyond."

Beyond Glass

The new Aura group provides a much-needed re-branding to the
tattered Glass image as well as opening the door to a broader
scope of wearable technology initiatives to help Google compete
against rivals such as Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft.

By remaining within Google, the Aura group will be able to
collaborate more closely with other advanced
technology efforts such as Soli, which allows consumers to
control gadgets through gestures such as rubbing fingers
together, and
Cardboard, which turns ordinary smartphones into
virtual-reality devices using a cardboard headset.

While virtual-reality technology is an growing area of focus
within the technology industry, particularly as Facebook preps
the release of its Oculus VR headset, the source said it's still
too soon to know whether the Aura group will be focused
specifically on VR.

AlthoughBusiness Insider
first spotted Google job postingsthat indicated that
the company planned to release other products in the Google Glass
division besides just smart eyewear back in May,the
existence of the Project Aura group and its new hires has not
been reported until now.

Google stopped selling the initial $1,500 version of Glass to
consumers earlier this year following waning interest and
criticism that the device was too expensive and clunky, without
enough practical-use cases. The head-mounted device, which
allowed users to record video, also raised privacy concerns and
caused a consumer backlash.

Lab126 experts

Dima Svetlov, whose LinkedIn profile says he worked
on Amazon's
TV streaming stick, joined Aura as a software development
manager in May. Amir Frenke joined in June as a director of
software development. Tina Chen left Lab126 in August after
working on its TV streaming box and
smart-home assistant, Echo, and now works as Aura's
manager of technical program management.

Svetlov, Frenke, and Chen, whose LinkedIn profiles don't reveal
any details about Project Aura besides the description that it
works on Glass "and beyond," are joining Apple veteran Max
Ratner, who worked on the iPhone.

The project even has its own designated recruiter, Jessica
Bailow, who has been focused on Aura since June, according to her
LinkedIn profile. And Google recently posted several job openings
for the Aura team, including a program manager for category
development, an industrial designer and a UX designer.

Business Insider also recently reported that Adrian Wong, the
former Google Glass lead electrical engineer, who had defected to
Facebook-owned virtual-reality startup Oculus,
quietly rejoined Google in June. His LinkedIn profile
describes his new job only as "building blocks" for
Alphabet/Google.

But the added description that "G is for Gadgets, Glasses,
and Goggles" suggests that he may be working on Project Aura as
well.